The mission of the Department is to provide high quality social work education to students for generalist social work practice at the baccalaureate and master’s level, and through excellent Liberal Studies courses. The Department seeks to prepare professionals who are committed to making the Western North Carolina region a better place for all citizens through efforts to help individuals, families, groups and communities improve their lives and to change maladaptive systems in the environment. Service to others is an integral part of the social work profession. The Department’s mission is congruent with the University’s mission in that it seeks to provide excellent levels of teaching and learning.

In order to accomplish the Department’s mission, the social work faculty is committed to:

• upholding the highest standards of scholarship, including the integration of the latest technology into course content as appropriate;
• modeling proficiency in practice skills;
• demonstrating professional values and ethics in the classroom;
• instilling an appreciation and respect for cultural, ethnic, religious, and gender diversity;
• promoting a desire and commitment to lifelong learning among social work students;
• and continually upgrading teaching skills.

Department of Social Work Goals:

• provide a curriculum that enables students to gain a common body of professional knowledge, values and skills for generalist practice in a rapidly changing political, social, cultural and economic environment;
• prepare social workers for advanced generalist social work practice with diverse populations and client systems of various sizes and types;
• prepare social workers who will enhance the well-being of people in rural communities of Western North Carolina through efforts to promote social and economic justice;
• and prepare social workers who will provide leadership for social service agencies and communities in Western North Carolina.